


Kisses in Central Wakanda

by robinasnyder



Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-08
Updated: 2016-05-08
Packaged: 2018-06-07 06:15:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6789694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/robinasnyder/pseuds/robinasnyder
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When T'Challa isn't actively trying to kill them (or at least incapacitate them so he can kill Bucky Barnes), he's actually pretty nice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kisses in Central Wakanda

It turns out that T’Challa is pretty nice when he’s not trying to get through you to kill someone. He gave them a place to stay if they needed it. Sam wondered if T’Challa got shit for housing international fugitives, people whom he’d previously fought against, including a girl who had caused the death off some of his citizens. 

Sam hadn’t heard a peep from anyone of anything negative to say about T’Challa, but he also got the sense that if someone had something negative to say that Sam wouldn’t hear it anyway. Wakanda was protective of their own. And Sam knew that it was one thing to bitch about one of your own leaders, but when someone who wasn’t from your group or your country said shit, then it was different. 

Sam wasn’t going to say shit about T’Challa anyway, because he wasn’t really a bad guy. He offered asylum to the Rogue Avengers, all of them. Even Wanda.

Scott took himself back to America, under the protection of an eccentric billionaire who had a hard on hatred for the Stark family. Also, he had a kid he wanted to stay close to. Clint also had kids, but Natasha was good enough to sneak them out for a cool year abroad. Wanda stayed as well. As far as Sam could see, Steve was as close as she had to family now but even that wasn’t really right. 

T’Challa gave her something to do. She worked with his scientists, worked to figure out her powers. Sam had sat in on a couple of sessions. He could see why T’Challa would agree to help her. Wakanda got a lovely stockpile of information on Wanda’s powers. But Wanda also learned to be more exact with her powers. T’Challa suggested once she had a good control that she could help them build some things. 

He said that she looked like a girl who wanted to build, not destroy. The slightly scared, but honestly relieved smile on her face told Sam that T’Challa read it right. 

“You know, for a man who hates diplomacy, you seem to do a pretty good job of it,” Sam said after they two of them left Wanda to her practice. 

“I do not hate people,” T’Challa said. “I just believe that two or three people get more done in a discussion than a room of 100 or more.” 

“Well, you might not be wrong about that,” Sam said, trying not to think about Congress back home. 

“I believe Rogers feels the same,” T’Challa pointed out. He nodded down the hall to where Sam knew Steve was sitting with Bucky’s frozen body trying to not worry the scientists working there, but also too anxious to leave. 

“Yeah, you know you sound like him,” Sam said. “If Steve had to run a country besides being Captain America.” 

“I believe it is that Captain Rogers sounds like me if I were only a soldier,” T’Challa said. There was a smirk on his lips, daring Sam to really think about what he’d said. Sam found himself laughing. 

“Okay, okay, you win this one,” Sam said. 

“You’re right. I do,” T’Challa said, still smirking. He pivoted his walk, heading to the stairs. Sam followed after him. The view from the stairs was probably the best view in the entire building. The beautiful circular windows, designed to follow the curve of a design that T’Challa had explained to him was a recurring artistic theme in their countries art and architecture. Sam wasn’t much more art or architecture, and he had a feeling that T’Challa had known, which was why he hadn’t explained what the theme was, and merely smiled like he’d been amused.

The windows themselves were as beautiful as the view, which showed off the surrounding buildings. Sam had gotten used to a certain blocky building style that was common from New York to DC, and even in all of the cities in Europe they’d run across looking for Bucky and Hydra. But Wakanda was special. Sam was certain that the architecture, like so much of Wakanda’s culture, grew up independently. The softer, rounder shapes of the buildings made them look like something both gentle and terribly durable. 

“I think that if I put your bed in this stairwell that I would never see you again,” T’Challa said. He sounded amused. 

“Oh yeah, that’s really funny,” Sam said, forcing the sarcasm because he wasn’t completely certain that T’Challa was wrong. 

“My Grandfather insisted on this view,” T’Challa said. “He said that the great sights would remind the people working in this building what they were creating for. There is another beautiful view from the King’s suite in the palace.” 

“To remind the King what he was working for?” Sam asked, hoping that he was following the thread right. 

T’Challa nodded. His smile slipped off. His grief was still too fresh. “As a boy I used to dream of the day when I would wake up every day and see the city from that window.” 

“I’m guessing that you never quite put two and two together to get what would have to happen for you to have that view,” Sam said. He crossed his arms over his chest. He wasn’t the guy who gave counseling anymore. It was hard on him. Steve made him stop because he could get too involved. 

He wanted to fix things. It wasn’t to be a hero, he knew, he’d always known. It was to try and fix the things that he had broken and couldn’t unbreak. It was a childish bargain he’d made with a God he didn’t completely believe in any more, but one that he’d still adhered to. Steve had understood and got him to stop. Steve didn’t need that kind of help. He wanted to listen to Sam, and Sam to just be by his side. 

But still, with two years of practice, still Sam had trouble always keeping the instinct shut off. 

“Not when I was a boy,” T’Challa said. “My father tried for years to get me to understand what would be required of me. But you don’t know completely until you’re in it. All my preparation and I wasn’t ready.” 

“I don’t blame you,” Sam said. 

“I don’t blame me,” T’Challa said. He turned and looked at Sam. “I know that you’ve been looking into our research into medical implants.” 

“I’m a curious man,” Sam said. He felt his heart rate pick up. It wasn’t like he was reading anything classified. But Steve was too absorbed into Bucky to notice what Sam was doing, or ask why he was doing what he was doing. 

“And also into our prosthetics. I am certain this isn’t just for Captain Roger’s friend,” T’Challa said. 

Sam felt his face get warm. “It isn’t.” 

“I will not allow you to send our research to Stark,” T’Challa said. 

“I know,” Sam said. He felt his anger spike, but he didn’t give into the temptation to snap at T’Challa. Anger wasn’t helpful in this situation, though Sam thought that T’Challa might understand if Sam did snap at him. 

“You do blame yourself for what happened to Colonel Rhodes.” 

“Please don’t say it’s not my fault,” Sam said, gritting his teeth. 

“We know that is a lie,” T’Challa said. “It is a lie that it is not at all your fault. And it would be a lie to say it is all your fault.” 

Sam paused for a moment. He clicked his tongue and blew out a breath, a little taken aback by T’Challa’s words. 

“It’s not all my fault,” Sam said. 

“You were part of a series of events,” T’Challa said. “One of many. I cannot say that I would have acted differently. I do not believe that you would be alive if you’d been hit.” 

“Yeah, me either,” Sam said. He would have gone down just like Riley. “But I didn’t catch him. I didn’t even get close.” 

“Neither, I understand, did Stark,” T’Challa pointed out. 

“Yeah, well Stark can feel guilty too,” Sam said. “But Stark can also help and I can’t.” 

“In this case, it is not your place to help,” T’Challa said. “Will you walk with me?” 

“Yeah,” Sam said, not completely committed to his words, or what T’Challa said or wanted. But Sam didn’t have anything better to do. And he liked T’Challa and had no reason to not walk with him. 

T’Challa walked him outside of Research and Health building (another one of those things that Sam was certain had some kind of origin or name that T’Challa hadn’t told them, but it was just as easy to call it Research and Health as anything else.) and out toward a walking path. It was a warm day outside, and not warm the way Sam was used to. 

Sometimes summers in New York could be oppressive. The buildings and the black top kept the heat trapped. Steve told Sam that the heat had been a problem for him as a kid too. Not only that, but sometimes the heat could get downright wet. Short of training in Georgia, Sam had never felt a heat that humid and just rip the air out of your lungs. 

It wasn’t hot in Wakanda. It was a warm, dry day. It was nice. Sam was a fine of nice weather. He guessed by the proximity to the Equator that Wakanda didn’t get and stay very cold. Not that he was really looking forward to having to be a refuge for a long time, but Sam was kind of looking forward to not dealing with winter in New York this year. However cold it got in Central Wakanda, Sam was certain it didn’t stay as cold as long as it did in New York City.

Thinking about weather didn’t make Sam feel better, but it also didn’t make him feel any worse. 

“May I ask you a question?” T’Challa asked, breaking into Sam’s innocuous thoughts. 

“Shoot,” Sam said. 

“Are you and Captain Rogers dating?” 

Sam laughed. “Jesus, no,” he said. 

“Why are you laughing?” T’Challa asked. He was frowning and that made Sam’s stomach flip over. 

“Cause Steve is pretty well preoccupied with Bucky, like completely,” Sam said. It wasn’t like Sam and Steve hadn’t tried kissing. It just hadn’t worked. And yeah, that was sad, but Steve was Sam’s friend and Steve loved him, not less than Bucky, but just differently.

“May I ask you another question?” T’Challa asked. 

“Sure. I can’t imagine that it’s gonna be anymore awkward than that last question,” Sam asked. 

“Would you be opposed to my kissing you?” T’Challa asked. 

Well, that wasn’t awkward per say. It just felt like it came out of nowhere. Because the first time Sam had seen T’Challa pull his mask off, Sam thought he looked like the Archangel Michael, beautiful and filled with divine wrath. The way his heart jumped a little whenever T’Challa smiled never went away. 

“Do you want to?” Sam asked. It was basically the stupidest question ever. 

“You smile like sunshine,” T’Challa said. “Okoye suggested I… I believe the phrase she used was grab you and stamp you down.” 

Sam smiled at that. He knew Okoye. She had sparred with him a few times for practice. She could pull on a scary face, but she was funny and smart enough to verbally put Sam on his ass a few times. He wondered if Okoye could do that to T’Challa. He hoped so, he really did. 

“So, you want to do this now or somewhere private?” Sam asked. 

T’Challa wrinkled his nose, which was just patently adorable. “This isn’t truly romantic, is it?” 

“Well, we can tell the grandkids some story to make it seem truly romantic,” Sam said, pulling on one of his own winning smiles. 

Sam expected the laugh he got, but it was still nice to hear. It was a little louder than he expected, but T’Challa had possibly the best laugh ever. 

T’Challa’s powerful hands grabbed his arms and dragged Sam across the gap. Sam had been a soldier for a while. He wasn’t weak at all, but T’Challa manhandle him like that made Sam’s heart flip. It was nice to feel dainty. Though Sam would never ever say that outloud. 

T’Challa’s lips were warm and soft. Sam felt that warmth right down to his toes. That feeling spread outward in his chest when T’Challa pulled back and smiled at him. “Yes,” T’Challa said. “I want to kiss you now.” 

Sam closed the space between them and kissed T’Challa back. T’Challa made a muffled, surprised sound. That sound was cuter than the nose scrunch. It was Sam’s turn to grin when he pulled back. 

“I want to kiss you now too,” Sam said. 

“I would like to do this more,” T’Challa said. “But I have a meeting with my advisors. Will you have dinner with me?” 

“Absolutely,” Sam said. Every thought by T’Challa’s lips were right out of his mind. He was talking with his eyes on T’Challa’s lips. He saw T’Challa smile. 

“Good. I am glad we are of the same mind,” T’Challa said. 

Sam glanced up, only to realize that T’Challa’s eyes were on Sam’s lips. Sam offered T’Challa one of his sunshine smiles. With how close they were standing, Sam could feel the way T’Challa’s face heated up just as much as Sam could see it. 

“Dinner?” Sam reminded him. 

T’Challa cleared his throat and stepped back, letting his hands drop. “Yes, very important meeting. I’ll send someone to get you at 6.” 

“Great,” Sam said. He was still smiling. T’Challa was smiling, which was kind of the best. They stared at each other for another moment before T’Challa turned and headed away. 

Sam let himself wander outside for a while before he headed back inside. He didn’t want to leave Wanda alone forever, but Sam took his time to enjoy the Sunshine. It really was a beautiful day outside. One of the most beautiful Sam had seen in quite some time.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm very white. So if you have an issue with something in this story, please tell me and I'll try to fix it.
> 
> edit: 
> 
> http://bolojun.lofter.com/post/39eb9d_c90dce5
> 
> The fic translated into Chinese by bolowilson


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